No Wout van Aert-Mathieu van der Poel showdown at Super 8 Classic as Belgian withdraws
Jumbo-Visma announce that Belgian 'is not completely fit' ahead of Saturday's race
The mooted late-season showdown between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert at Saturday's Super 8 Classic won't be taking place after the Belgian pulled out of the race.
After winning a stage and the overall at the recent Tour of Britain, Van Aert was slated to start the 203.6km race in Brakel to continue his build-up to the UEC Road European Championships and UCI Gravel World Championships.
However, his Jumbo-Visma team announced on Friday morning that Van Aert wouldn't be racing as he "is not completely fit".
"Wout van Aert was originally also scheduled to start in the Super 8 Classic, but he is not completely fit," Jumbo-Visma stated on Twitter.
"He is now focusing on his other goals in the final part of the season."
Van Aert, who turned 29 on Friday, will next race in the time trial (September 20) and road race (September 24) at the Road European Championships before heading to Italy and the Coppa Bernocchi (October 2) and Gran Piemonte (October 5) ahead of the Gravel Worlds near Treviso (October 8).
The series of races will round out Van Aert's season before he turns his attention to the cyclocross campaign at the end of the year.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Van Aert has enjoyed a successful season though perhaps hasn't hit the heights he might have hoped.
He missed out at Milan-San Remo (third), the Tour of Flanders (fourth), and Paris-Roubaix (third) as well as a Tour de France stage win and Road World Championships gold, where he was again second behind career-long rival van der Poel.
Van Aert has racked up 25 top-five placings through the season, including wins at the E3 Saxo Classic, the Belgian time trial title, and a stage and the overall at the Tour of Britain. He'll hope to add to that win list over the coming weeks, with a European road or time trial title and a world gravel title firmly in his sights.
In Van Aert's absence, the Super 8 Classic will be headlined by Van der Poel, who is set to round out his season at the Circuit Franco-Belge, Paris-Tours, and Paris Olympics mountain bike test event.
However, he will only race all four if he feels his form is up to par, having said after the GP de Wallonie that he might end his season earlier than planned.
Van Aert's teammate Christophe Laporte is also down to race the Super 8 Classic along with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), and Arnaud Démare in his sixth outing for Arkéa-Samsic.
However Lotto-Dstny sprinter Arnaud De Lie, is another absence at the race with his team confirming that he won't be taking part on Friday morning.
Wout van Aert (@WoutvanAert) was originally also scheduled to start in the Super 8 Classic, but he is not completely fit. He is now focusing on his other goals in the final part of the season.September 15, 2023
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Prior to joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.
As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Dani also oversees How to Watch guides and works on The Leadout newsletter throughout the season. Their favourite races are Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix and their favourite published article is from the 2024 edition of the latter: 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix